Fluctuations from Thermalization at RHIC

Abstract

The centrality dependence of dynamic fluctuations of the transverse momentum and the net charge can signal the approach to local thermal equilibrium in nuclear collisions. I explore this signal by comparing transport-theory calculations to STAR and PHENIX data at a range of energies. In particular, I find that this model can describe PHENIX data on the dependence of fluctuations on the transverse momentum range in which they are measured.

Comments: 6 pages, 5 eps figures, Talk given at the 20th Winter Workshop on Nuclear Dynamics, Trelawny Beach, Jamaica, 15-20 March 2004